December 2017 Rochester General Hospital President’s Message

The holiday season is in full swing! As we make time to celebrate with family and friends, it’s important we all take a moment to appreciate and celebrate our Rochester General Hospital family, too.

Through our individual, team and organizational accomplishments of 2017, we have much to be proud of and have set the table for an even better 2018. To name a few, we’ve shortened wait times for admissions, labs and services, improved patient throughput and achieved HIMSS 7 designation. Most impressively, we’ve managed to make these improvements while remaining committed to compassionate care and personal connections.

Being open to change and committed to constant improvement isn’t always easy, but it’s the right thing to do for our patients and each other. I’m proud this mindset is part of our hospital’s culture. This approach will help us continue to advance the patient experience and drive our success through next year and the years to come, especially as 2020 approaches and we prepare to open the Sands-Constellation Center for Critical Care.

While we celebrate what we’ve accomplished together, we must also remember we’re approaching the time of year when community need is at its greatest with cold temperatures, snowy and icy travel, an unpredictable flu season and other seasonal increases in hospital utilization. Just as friends and family rally to help one another, the RGH family will do the same so we continue to provide an outstanding patient experience, no matter the need and no matter the challenges. At Rochester General, we embrace these challenges as a team.

The past year has been one of changes, challenges and eager preparation for our hospital’s bright future. Take a moment and think of the thousands of patients who are able to enjoy another holiday season with friends and family because of our excellence in patient care. I am so proud of what we’ve accomplished this year and I look forward to building on our success in 2018.

Thank you, and happy holidays to you and your loved ones.

Lead courageously,

CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

By the end of this month, we will open a new, welcoming and comfortable indoor walkway connecting the Medical Office Building and the Carter Street Garage. The walkway will have plenty of LED and natural lighting and new heating and cooling systems.

South Road, which runs between Carter Street and Portland Avenue, reopened on November 17. Thank you for your patience during this temporary closure.

A significant amount of demolition and prep work for the Sands-Constellation Center for Critical Care is taking place this month, so you may be hearing some additional noise over the coming weeks. Please reassure your patients and remember to offer ear protection, which is available at every nurse station.

For more updates on the construction project, check the update page on the RGH portal or follow this link.

ADVANCING PATIENT CAREECMO Program Launches at RGH
In late November, RGH launched its ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) program. Also known as extracorporeal life support, ECMO provides prolonged cardiac and respiratory support to patients. It gives our team another tool to save the life of a critically ill patient. Physicians, advanced practice providers, perfusionists, respiratory therapists, RNs and technologists in MICU, CTICU, and cath lab received more than 1,000 hours of training to be ready to provide this service.
We are grateful for the comprehensive work the interdisciplinary team has completed over the last six months, including the clinical leaders, Dr. Cameron Hall, ECMO Medical Director; Drs. Scott Feitell and Todd Sheppard, ECMO physician leaders; and Meghan Nicholson, RN, ECMO Coordinator.

SafeConnect is Live

Across our entire system, SafeConnect is live and helping us better track and identify safety events and near misses—or should I say, “good catches.” The use of this system allows us to communicate critical safety information that will affect how we continue to care for patients safely, implement new standards and manage current policies. It is important we integrate this system into our daily work. It is as easy as shopping on Amazon!

As necessary, please ask questions or call 922-HELP if you need assistance. When we all use SafeConnect, we gain better insight on how to make health care delivery safer for everyone.

WELCOME TO OUR MEDICAL/DENTAL STAFF

Mignon Enecilla, MD, University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center – Family Medicine and Geriatrics